Made from acquired saw blades adapted for the tool bag of the Native craftsman.  A handier length that was sufficient for cutting bone, ivory and wood in the manufacture of tools, weapons, kayak frames and household items.  Steel and caribou antler joined together with copper pins.   9 ¾” long. 

$375

Sea mammals were a principle form of protein and fat. Meat from a kill was shared along lines of community protocol. Distributing large hunks of bloody, oily meat and blubber was made easier with the aid of a bone hook set into a wood handle.  This example has a grip-enhancing seal head carved into the butt end.  The hook is secured with a bone peg and hide lashing.  Rudimentary line art decorates the handle sides.   13 3/4” long.                                                                 
 $1,400

Braining was one of many ways to finish a wounded seal. Other methods include manually breaking the neck, stabbing through the eye with the pointed handle of an ice scoop, and spearing with the short lance (which also provided lashing holes in the hide for towing and dragging). The braining stone was a bludgeoning tool that was easily carried and prevented unnecessary damage to the hide. Several museum examples exist but the question remains: How was the hole made? Stone about 2 ¾” With hide strap overall 11” $425

An early example of the all-purpose butchering, skinning, scraping knife used primarily by women.  It was also an eating implement – as raw hunks of meat or fish were held in the teeth while the ulu was used to cut away what couldn’t be managed in one mouthful.  Driftwood and slate. About 3 ¾” high by 4 ½” wide.                                                 

 $375

Small utility knife used for everything from tool making to hide processing.  Old steel blade set into a well-worn inscribed antler handle.   8” long. 
    
$450

Typical fighting knife of the Tlingit tribe of the NW Coast. Carved alder wood with inset bone eyes, steel blade, 19’’ Long. Commonly used hand strap with finger slit is attached to the hide-wrapped grip. Painted sheath with shoulder strap represents the raven’s body. Traditional sheath tip with wood plug and cord wrapping.

$5,000

A common pattern among native tribes in the Great Lakes area. Also seen in mountain man illustrations depicting a small secondary utility knife hanging from the neck. Bone handled knife in neck sheath with deer fur-trimmed throat and green leather underlay design front panel. Braided leather neck cord and various hanging decorations 8.4’’ overall length.

Was $950 Not available SOLD

A highly personal possession of a Plains Indian brave, it honors a faithful, hard-working (and often mortally wounded) warhorse.  Through oration and ceremony, a warrior paid tribute to his companion’s courage and strength.  This interpretation is based on the works of Joseph No Two Horns, Hunkpapa Sioux, a veteran of the Little Big Horn. Three wound marks, together with open mouth, laid back ears and widened nostrils help
exemplify the accounts of his heroic deeds. Wood, leather, brass, deer hide (mane), nails. 33” long

 $1,400

This implement helped an Inuit hunter stealthily approach a seal resting on the ice.  As the hunter crept along the surface, he would emit seal-like utterances and scratch the ice, lulling his quarry into thinking a nearby seal was working on his own ice hole.  Closing to a short distance enabled the hunter to quickly strike with his harpoon while the seal made a mad dash for the waters below. Wood, simulated seal claws, gut, hide.  10” long.         

 $1,400

(Due to restrictions on seal products, “claws” were carved from a natural horn material)

Always hanging from the horseman’s wrist, the quirt, whether wood or horn affixed with hide lashes, was used to urge the warrior’s pony forward. Carved elk antler tine is incised with turtle imagery for protection, lightning symbol for speed. Braided leather whip is set into the socketed bone with a wood peg. Wrist cord is hung with danglers of deer hooves and horse hair. Handle length 11.5’’

$750

Utility knife that would have served as an eating and butchering tool. A traditional shape reminiscent of a snow knife with T-shaped pommel, but on a smaller scale.  It may have had a larger blade at one time that was refitted after breaking. The Inuit craftsman had to make do with what he had.  The handle is made of three pieces of bone spliced together with copper rivets and wrapped with hide strips. Sheath of fish skin and thin hide. 14 ¼”long.

$750

This warclub is carved from a single piece of wood, about 22" long with a 2 3/4" diameter ball inset with a metal projection.
An interesting feature is the unique perforation in the rather thin club body (only 1/2" thick) which would indicate a great degree of workmanship and perhaps higher office of the owner while retaining enough strength to be battle worthy.  The ball is crowned with a sacred otter effigy and the grip is covered with snake skin.  Additional adornments include incised lines, carved indentations, and brass nailheads.

$1,200

Decorative yet battle worthy warclub. Inspired by, but not copied from, several extant museum artifacts.
Carved visage fiercely accentuated with war paint, (hyper-focused) brass eyes and iron spike protruding from the mouth. Shaft is incised and lightly pigmented on three sides. Trade beads and 1858 coin hang from butt end. Length 20”

Was $1200 Not available SOLD

The revered form of the bear carved from man-made ivory substitute with abalone eyes, nose, teeth, and ears. (Historically, abalone shell was obtained through trade with California natives.) Substantial blade with central ridge. (Metal blades were obtained through various avenues, such as trade, capture, salvage from shipwrecks.) Traditional wrist strap with finger slit joined to grip with heavy cord. Overall length 17’’

$3500

After an Ojibwe example, late 1700’s.  Maple, carved in the likeness of a sacred hawk atop a “nest” of deer dew claw “tinklers”.  12” high. 

$800

The toggling harpoon head is an Inuit invention that dates back over a thousand years.  While all other harpoon heads have barbs to hold fast in an animal’s flesh, the toggling harpoon head is unique in its retention system. Upon entering the body of a seal, walrus, or whale the harpoon head remains as the harpoon shaft detaches and is pulled back to the hunter. Meanwhile, the line attached to a hole in the center of the harpoon head is pulled taut and the head swivels in the flesh and forms a T-shaped anchor that cannot be withdrawn. The line is either connected to inflated sealskin floats when kayaks are used in the hunt, or is engaged by hunters on land in a tug-of-war with the struggling sea mammal.  Bone with copper-pinned iron point 5 ¾”

Illustration by Frederic Back from the book INUIT, Glimpses of an Arctic Past by the Canadian Museum of Civilization

 Was $525 Not Available SOLD

The Plains Indian knife warclub, along with the lance, was a weapon directly associated with equestrian warfare. One, two or three blades were used.  This one incorporates 2 manufactured steel utility blades set into a piece of sawn wood measuring 33" long, providing a warrior with a dramatic and effective weapon for use on horseback. Its shape is embellished with sawtooth carving on the underbelly and a flared knob at the end of a rawhide covered grip.  Faded green paint is evident on each side and a multitude of antique brass tacks cover the club.  It is hung with various appendages (feathers, ribbon, hide) that hold personal significance for the owner.

Was $1,200 Not available SOLD

The Plains Indian quirt was a personalized piece of riding gear, always ready to urge a war horse to a gallop. Often carved from a piece of wood, it could take the form of a spiral cylinder, flat paddle or in this case, the popular sawtooth or lightning bolt design.  Brass tacks were a common decorative element.  Sturdy commercial leather strips, wrapped with a collar of blue trade wool over native tanned deerskin, tied with cord, form a lash comprised of a broad range of materials. In addition, a fancy wrist strap would greatly enhance the piece if the maker was lucky enough to be gifted some embroidery, quillwork, or beaded strip by a wife or female admirer.  Men never did such work.  Accordingly, the beaded wrist strap on this particular quirt was obtained through trade from an outside source.     Wood 14”  Lash  17”  Beaded wrist strap 6” (12” folded)      

Was $1,200 Not available SOLD

The ball headed club was found mainly in the Woodlands and eastern Plains.    Although rather basic looking at first glance, this model has features that denote fine artistic input in a deadly effective weapon.  The carving of the hexagonal shaft required extra care and attention to detail.  Its decorations are reserved, with just part of the spine accented with tacks.  The sides feature embedded trade beads and brass nailheads in a mountain motif.  The ball head’s heavy spike is highlighted by radiating brass nailheads.  A partial rawhide wrap and a simple tassel of faded ribbon complete the grip area.         Length 22”

$1,075       

A knife in early America was a weapon, tool, eating and cooking utensil all in one.  With his knife the Native American or the frontiersman could put up a dwelling, mend clothing and equipment, clean fish, build traps, scrape hides, take scalps.  It never left his person, for this simple instrument was crucial in the life and death struggle with man, beast, and the elements.  By the mid 1800’s the proliferation of trade goods (cloth, beads, blades, mirrors, brass tacks, sewing needles) changed forever what was considered necessary and desirable by Native peoples.  Conflict and peaceful coexistence ebbed and flowed.  The exchange of ideas and designs became commonplace.   This knife joins a 7” blade to a unique elk antler tip.  Rawhide and sinew cover part of the handle.  The sheath is made from a heavy piece of commercial (white man’s) leather (as opposed to native tanned hide) which was recognized for its toughness and durability.  Possible sources back then were luggage, saddles, soldiers’ boot tops.  Some sheaths were exclusively constructed and decorated with brass tacks. This example combines rawhide stitching with brass tacks and curiously enough, harness rivets (seen in many museum pieces).  Three brass buttons adorn the sheath top along with incised curvilinear lines on the body.  The cutout slot receives a belt or sash that keeps the sheath snugged up against the wearer.

Knife 14 ½”       Sheath 11 ¾”        Together 15 ¾”        

Was $1,075      Not available SOLD          

Carved from a single piece of wood (often the burl section of a tree), the canoe – or belt – cup was a necessary piece of equipment for both Native and white canoemen who participated in the Fur Trade (the height of which took place between the 1680’s to the 1870’s). Of particular renown were the French-Canadian voyageurs who transported fur pelts hundreds of miles on the Great Lakes and along waterways to rendezvous points.  Long hours of paddling required a quick way to drink from the waters that they traveled on.

Simple in concept but affording the individual a highly adaptable medium for artistic expression, the cup and attached belt toggle were carved and sometimes painted in a variety of themes.  The rotund beaver in this example is seen clutching a branch as he reinforces his home.  The toggle is carved in the likeness of two pinecones.

Length 5 ½”  toggle 2 ½”     Was $850 Not available SOLD

The term “gunstock” is a misnomer in every respect.  It refers to a vague resemblance to a rifle stock although the “shoulder rest” is at the wrong angle and clubs of this shape were never adapted from actual gunstocks.  Furthermore, anthropologists have noted similar clubs (mostly bladeless) in other ancient cultures. Although there is some speculation that Native peoples were attempting to emulate the power of the white man’s firestick, there is evidence of these clubs predating the arrival of Europeans - in addition to its shape being reminiscent of, and attributed to, a deer’s hindquarter.

An icon of power and aggression, this superb example is carved from 150 year old wood sparingly decorated with brass tacks, perforated haft and a dangler of a warrior’s personal “medicine”. The mounted blade is typical of trade metal goods of the mid 1800’s and features the popular heart cutout.

Length  29 ½”              Was  $1,500 Not available SOLD

Ground and polished slate was a widely used blade material. It was easy to obtain, shape, and sharpen. Slate knives have been found with widely varying blade sizes, from quite large to little hafted nubs.

This man’s knife has a finely ground slate blade set into a grooved driftwood handle with pierced pommel, and secured with hide strips.

The protective pouch is made of carp skin and thin deer hide.

Length 10 3/8” $625

Largely attributed to the Copper Inuit, the caribou antler bag handle was a simple implement that aided in the transport and storage of a most unwieldy item - the blood bag. Blood was an important food item that, absent a bucket or pail, was stored in a bag made from a caribou stomach.

This contoured horn handle, with velvety patina, is decorated with traditional designs patterned after several museum examples. Complete with hide strip of appropriate length.

Horn length 5” $425

Copper is a malleable metal that the Inuit incorporated into a number of tools and implements. Various points, blades, hooks, and fastening pins (rivets) were the creations of their survival instinct and ingenuity.

The Copper Inuit (centrally located in Canada’s Northwest Territories) worked raw copper ore without the use of high heat. Other groups salvaged manufactured copper from the abandoned ships of ill-fated European expeditions.

Such a piece of plate copper is evident on this long-handled snow knife (obviously put to other uses when not building an igloo). Exclusively Inuit in design, it features a double-edged copper blade set and riveted into an ivory (faux walrus tusk) haft. The hide wrapping and T-shaped caribou antler pommel enhance the grip when used with mittens in freezing conditions.

Illustration by Frederic Back from the book INUIT, Glimpses of an Arctic Past by the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Length 21” $1,800

The Haida (hydah), a prominent tribe of the Northwest Coast, lived in a forested archipelago surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. On land they enjoyed the bounties of timber and game, while the ocean provided a limitless supply of sea mammals and fish. From their large cedar canoes they pursued cod, salmon, and halibut, among others. Halibut could weigh anywhere from 30 to several hundred pounds. To minimize the danger of a large thrashing fish damaging or upsetting a canoe, a stout club was employed to stun or kill the hooked fish before hauling it in.

The Haida were excellent woodcarvers especially adept at decorating utility items with traditional symbols and designs. Often, their fish clubs represented a natural predator of the fish such as a sea lion. The cedar wood club pictured here depicts a grimacing sea lion with bared teeth and bulbous snout. The body of the animal contains design elements that connect with the front and rear flippers. A handle flows from the back end and terminates in a rounded knob, pierced for a hide thong. A substantial piece of fishing equipment that is both beautiful and deadly efficient.

Length 19 1/4” $5,000

A mounted Plains warrior carried a shield in addition to an array of his preferred weapons. This shield is constructed of wet buffalo rawhide stretched over a willow hoop and coaxed into a convex shape. A secret design is painted directly on the rawhide face and hidden by a permanently attached buckskin cover.

The cover is painted with mineral pigments and depicts a serpent with a lightning bolt body. Suspended accoutrements represent the warrior’s spiritual war medicine. They portray essential attributes such as strength, swiftness, and bravery. In the center are two horse hair tassels hung with two deer toes. The left grouping contains human hair danglers paired with a rifle cartridge and brass bells. Various feathers comprise the assemblage on the right.

The back of the shield demonstrates the necessary attachments of a true war shield (as opposed to a dance shield). A substantial arm loop is padded with elk fur. The hand grip is rawhide wrapped with leather. A short loop at the apex enables proud display on a lodge pole. A long shoulder sling lets the warrior “wear” the shield comfortably while on patrol or after leaving a raid. And finally, a bit of protective medicine in the form of a rawhide turtle effigy hangs from the grip.

Diameter 19” Was $5,000 Not available SOLD

From the eastern Woodlands, late eighteenth century. A sleek and elegant spiked warclub befitting a man of stature and leadership. Carved from a single piece of figured maple, finished with dignified restraint. Small nailheads and brass tacks highlight panels on the octagonal haft. The grip area is covered with worn deerhide flanked by sections of old powder horn strap. Decorative danglers are composed of cloth, beads, hide and two fur & bone “haircones”.

This club was made 20 years ago as a loaned item for the Kentucky Historical Society. After three years in a Daniel Boone exhibit it was returned and kept in the artist’s collection. He feels ready to part with it.

Length 23 ½” Was $1500 Not available SOLD

An early American folding knife utilizing friction as the simplest form of blade retention – in lieu of backsprings or locking mechanisms. The tightly pinned blade is swung open and held in position by the thumb pressing down on the extended tang. Secondary knives like this were handy additions to a frontiersman’s “possibles” bag. Small cutting tasks abounded in daily frontier life; personal grooming, making trap lines and stakes, slicing tobacco plugs, cutting food and bait, shaving wood for firestarting, etc.

Friction folders of various sizes can be traced back to the Roman times. This diminutive example uses a curved piece of antler that is filed out to form a blade channel. The metal ball is a decorative addition that a blacksmith may have provided to finish the butt end of the handle. Personal ownership is defined by the incised designs, leisurely carved by the fireside.

Handle length 4 ¼” Open length 7 ¼” $850

A weapon unique to the Plains Indian. Based on several museum examples of long-reach armaments designed for mounted warfare, emulating a bird of prey’s speed and deadliness. Carved from an old wagon tongue and mounted with a “dag” blade that Native tribes valued for its variable adaptations to knives, lances, and warclubs.

Avian features include the carved head with copper tack eyes, stepped ruffled back, and body stripes composed of paint and small brass tacks. The substantial butt end is pierced but has no thong or decorative elements. This club is at once graceful and businesslike. An implement of beauty and destruction.

Length 31” $1,800

While some ball headed clubs were carved from large pieces of wood, many were formed from the naturally occurring burl growth of a tree – located on the trunk or below ground in the root section. A suitable branch emanating from this dense knot became the haft.

A unique gift from nature, this club was carved, then refined with manufactured materials obtained through barter or capture. A metal point projects from the already impactful ball that is colored with native pigments. A length of wire wraps the midsection of the haft as a decorative (but sometimes reparative) element accented with old, solid-brass tacks. The dark, walnut hull dyed (deer) rawhide grip is finished on each end with multiple windings of linen cord. This true fighting weapon is reservedly decorated with ribbons, hide strips, and a loop of trade beads.

Length 24 ½” $1,800

The big leaf-shaped ground slate blade was suited for larger butchering jobs. Two edges and a deep belly profile made for efficient cuts through thick blubber and flesh.

The blade of this man’s knife is secured to the carved driftwood handle with three bone pins. A medial section of hide wrapping along with a large pommel help to maintain a firm grip in slippery conditions. The protective salmon skin sheath envelopes most of this precious implement.

Length 13 ¼” $950

This knife illustrates the pure utility of a simple edged instrument the Inuit hunter would use for precise cutting tasks that did not require a pointed knife. There would be times that starting an incision with a slice was preferable to initiating with a stab.

The three inch blade of this knife has a razor-sharp edge that is slightly upswept towards the front. It is set into a long caribou antler handle that is contoured with finger grooves and pierced for a hide thong. The screen image of a similar blade in action was taken from a documentary on the Netsilik Eskimo from the National Film Board of Canada. Click on the image with the red triangle to view this documentary.

A basic sheath of salmon skin lined with thin leather protects the knife between tasks.

Knife length 8 ½” $375

These two items are classic examples of Inuit artistry beautifying everyday objects. When hunting was productive and life was good, an Inuit man was afforded time to embellish implements that started off as simple pieces of bone and ivory.

The Seal Drag was a large toggle-like handle that helped haul a seal carcass back home. This example is carved from caribou antler and measures 4 ½”. The flippers form the rear protrusion. Smaller toggles carved in zoomorphic forms served as clothing fasteners and sled dog harness connections.

The Arrow Straightener was basically a wrench-like instrument designed to correct a bend in an arrow shaft. Great mechanical force could be applied by locating the kink and squeezing the shaft and its straightener together. This tool in the likeness of a polar bear is carved from faux ivory. Its flanks are decorated with traditional hunting scenes while the top and diamond-shaped arrow hole are highlighted by basic line art. The bear’s rear feet are depicted in a swimmer’s full extension. Length 5 3/4"

Both items remain in the artist’s collection

The ice scoop was a tool used by the Inuit seal hunter seeking prey at the breathing hole. Meticulous cleaning and shaping of the ice and snow surrounding a seal’s breathing hole preceded hours of waiting and watching for the slightest sign of a submerged seal coming up for air. Seals maintained multiple breathing holes, so a day of vigilance at a single hole might prove fruitless for the hunter. If there was a successful harpoon strike and a seal was hauled out of the water, the pointed end of the scoop would be thrust into its eye, quickly ending the struggle. As stated in the “Inuit Braining Stone” article, this was one of four ways to finish a seal.

A carved section of musk ox horn is gracefully mated to a sharpened antler spike. The V-joint is pinned with copper and bound with hide. A hide loop has been added to the handle - though historically correct, its intended purpose is not entirely clear to the artist.

illustration by Frederic Back from the book INUIT, Glimpses of an Arctic Past by the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Length 16 ½” Was $1200 Not Available SOLD

Made from iron rod and caribou antler, the seal hook aided in retrieving a dead or wounded seal. This use of non-native metal is another example of the hunter craftsman creating a superior tool through adaptive repurposing. The iron point would penetrate the tough hide of a seal more effectively than one made of bone or copper. Incised native designs beautify both sides of the contoured handle.

Illustration by Frederic Back from the book INUIT, Glimpses of an Arctic Past by the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Length 15 ½” $475

An example of early bone toolmaking. While not as sharp as flint, bone knives were more resilient and made good stabbing weapons. They functioned in all aspects of food preparation and served as skinning and scraping implements with less likelihood of damage to hides.
An elk leg bone has been split, contoured and sharpened. Rawhide provides a firm, durable grip. The buffalo leather sheath is painted with Native symbolism – a (barely perceptible) lightning bolt emanating from a storm of hailstones.
Length (knife) 11 ¼” Was $425 Not Available SOLD

A streamlined version of the masterfully conceptualized Haida fish club. Lighter in weight but still speaking with authority, this cedar club embodies the traits of the sea lion in elongated elegance. The rear flippers form the terminus of the handle. The grip is enhanced with grooves representing peaks and valleys.
Length 19” $4,500

A beautiful rendition of a class of ball headed clubs that were highly decorated and still carried into battle. Well-worn green paint exposes the patina on a nicely carved wood haft that is copiously tacked. An arrowhead intensifies the lethality of the ball head. The grip is covered with a strip of tailor’s cloth tape.

Length 23” $1,500

Exhibiting the fierceness of the sea lion carved into an alder log, this is the artist’s heftiest club to date. The grain is more open but the features are crisp and commanding. A double row of teeth and flared nostrils create a predatory profile that pairs well with the feel of the dense wood. This club would apply the coup-de-grace to any size fish with aplomb.

Length 19” $5,000

It is estimated that perhaps ten percent of all Native warclubs contained some sort of decorative perforations (excluding thong holes). A common site for material removal in ball headed clubs was the juncture of ball and haft, dramatically highlighting both the appearance of the ball and the skill of the maker.
This club of Northeastern Woodland design has a scalloped eight-sided haft and well-situated brass tacks. Inset into the top surface is a trinket classified as Trade Silver, routinely traded or gifted to Native peoples for use in clothing and body adornment.

Length 22 ½” $1,700

Perhaps the rarest form of Plains Indian warclub. The artist has seen only one museum example utilizing this bone. A line of thoracic vertebrae bones form the support column of the buffalo’s hump (see diagram). The bone used here is a partially fossilized discovery from Montana and is one of the longest available. It is armed with a sturdy antler tip that’s tightly wedged in the spinal canal and secured with a primitive iron nail. The “head” of the club is colored with earth pigments and decorated with brass nails. A grip at the opposite end is formed with wrappings of rawhide.

Length 18 ¾” Currently not for sale

The term “gunstock” is retained here for easy reference but is an erroneous attribution. The shape of this warclub actually predates indigenous exposure to European gunstocks.

This graceful warclub is fashioned from maple. Its “flame grain” stripes are visible on the club’s top edge. The slim, straightforward design with carved median ridge suggests a Great Lakes origin. The inset blade is an oft seen feature while the carrying strap is a less common addition. The grip is substantially covered with leather. Powerful symbolism is displayed in the arrangement of brass tacks, the only decorative elements besides a few dangling remnants at the butt end.

Length 31” $2,700

The snow knife evolved from bone and ivory to copper and then ferrous metals as they became available in the wide ranging geographical areas inhabited by the Inuit. Besides carving snow blocks for igloo construction, snow knives were used for all manner of cutting tasks that arose .

These two snow knives, sharing similar aspects of Inuit adaptive technology, incorporate steel blades set into caribou antler handles and secured with copper pins. Each has a generously curved butt ensuring a firm grip in freezing conditions. Their rough leather sheaths are equipped with various thongs for personal carry, lashing to a sled or hanging indoors.

Med Knife in sheath total length 13 ¾” Was $575 Not Available SOLD

Lrg Knife in sheath total length 16 ¾” Was $950 Not Available SOLD

A superb example of Inuit ingenuity which involves the repurposing of a large butcher knife blade to suit the needs of a hunter in building igloos and dissecting large sea mammals. Scarce wood pieces, caribou antler, copper pins, hide lashings and a steel blade are fastened together to make a 23 1/2” long implement unique to the Arctic peoples. The hide cords that are spaced out at intervals incorporate an Inuit technique to enhance the grip of a tool.

$2,100

This 35” long club incorporates two trade knife blades mounted in a well-shaped piece of weathered wood. The stepped, carved underside and grip-retaining ring pommel stand alone in defining the deadly beauty of this warclub. A mounted warrior would undoubtedly attach his own personal decorations to flutter in the wind as he showed off his equestrian skills.

$2,800

A primary tool of the Inuit craftsman that has been decorated with traditional designs. A salvaged saw blade has been fitted into a piece of caribou antler (softened in water and meticulously inletted). Visually pleasing tactile grooves have been applied to the grip area.

Length 9” $950

These two implements look markedly different but serve the same purpose - that of distributing pieces of a recent kill to members of family and community. The form is dictated not only by the function but by materials at hand and the time afforded to the craftsman to embellish this significant tool.

Seal Head Hook 12” Unique Curved Hook 9”

The Pair $2,500

The Polar bear’s next meal is the unsuspecting seal resting by the water’s edge. The handle of the ulu (traditional woman’s knife) is antler carved in the image of a leaping polar bear. The subject evolved in the artist’s mind when the fabrication of a display stand presented a scenario that depicts nature’s cycle of life and death. The sweet seal is carved from bone and rests on a rocky shelf made from a moose antler “palm”. A never to be duplicated masterwork.

Overall length of complete piece 10” $5,000

Fifteen years in the making - from acquisition and reforging of an axe head to final details of sheath and strap. The artist modeled this fighting axe on a relic viewed somewhere in Pennsylvania 25 years ago. It was said to be part of an explorer’s equipage dating to the early 1800’s. The head is not a commercial reproduction but a one-off recreation. The cap hiding the tightening wedge is formed from copper sheet. The stitched leather straps are attached to a heavy water-formed leather case with sole-leather welt joined together with thirteen copper rivets.

Length of tomahawk 17” $3,800

This tool was used in Western Alaska during warmer months to dig for bulbous roots resembling small onions. The were peeled and eaten immediately or cooked with other foods. The roots were, interestingly enough, favored by mice whose nests were robbed of their root caches if the Inuit were able to spot their mouse trails. When the ground thawed, the mice were left alone as these picks could then be used to dig in the actual root beds. Made from an antler section that has been pinned and gut-bound to carved driftwood.

13” high with 9.5” antler spike $1,200

Generally regarded as the predecessor of composite snow/utility knives utilizing metal blades (which could hack frozen meat as well cut snow blocks). A large section of land mammal leg bone was split and contoured. It was then scarf-jointed to a thin piece of caribou antler with copper pins and gut binding. The curvature of the handle lent itself to the creation of a polar bear’s head incorporating a thong hole in its mouth. Zoomorphic design elements were often integrally crafted into everyday items when food was plentiful and conditions were not stressful.

Length 17” $950

This Northwest Coast sea otter effigy fish-killing club is modeled after examples attributed to the Tlingit (kling-it) or Haida (hydah) tribes. It is positioned in the otter’s familiar waterborne repose clutching a half-eaten fish. The grooved handle ends in a sizable knob strung with a braided hide wrist thong. (Unfortunately the images don’t adequately show the striations of the inset abalone eyes).

Length 19” $1,400

The artist’s rendition of a uniquely innovative warclub attributed to the Iowa tribe of Oklahoma. The original is in the collection of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, NY. Not quite a tomahawk, this wicked-looking club incorporates a chisel-like implement set into a flattened “head” reminiscent (in profile) of a ball head club, on top of which sits an integrally-carved creature, possibly an otter.

Length 20” Currently not for sale

Typically made by the Inuit man for his wife, a bone or ivory comb was a treasured keepsake. These examples are haircombs; other combs were made for processing grass strands or sinew fibers. Some combs were quite plain while others incorporated effigies of seal, caribou and whale. The curvature of the carved bone gave the decorated side of the combs a convex face. The concave sides are shown in image 3.

3 1/2” tallest ht $2,300 set

A fine example of a tight-grained burled club that feels almost twice as dense as some other clubs. It is armed with a leaf-shaped spike and embellished with personal totems, brass nails, and subtle cloth and dew claw danglers.

Length 22” $3,500

A ceremonial (but battle worthy) club honoring the great provider of the Plains Indians. Carved from a single piece of burled ash, a headlong charge is suggested by the angle of the buffalo’s head. The horns were fashioned from an iron harness ring. Painted imagery depicts lightning, snow, and hail. Feathers, beads, and buffalo teeth make up the hanging elements.

Length 23” $3,000